Roseanne Barr is claiming she was labeled a racist because she voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
On Friday, the 65-year-old actress released a video on her YouTube channel, in which she addressed her firing from the now-canceled Roseanne reboot and shared her official statement about her exit.
“Hi, this is Roseanne Barr and I’d like to welcome you to my own studio where I’m able to speak for myself to my fellow and sister Americans without the filter of the biased media,” Barr began.
“This was my statement from the very beginning and it will continue to be forever because it is the truth. When ABC called and asked me to explain my ‘egregious and unforgivable’ tweet, I told them: ‘I thought Valerie Jarrett was white.’ And I also said, ‘I’m willing to go on The View, Jimmy Kimmel or whatever other show you want me to go on and explain that to my audience,’ ” explained Barr.
Barr continued: “Now, instead what happened was about 40 minutes after that, my show was canceled before even one advertiser pulled out and I was labeled a racist. Why you ask? Well the answer’s simple: it’s because I voted for Donald Trump and that is not allowed in Hollywood.”
Her statement comes not long after she released a clip titled “Roseanne explains the Valerie Jarrett tweet.” In the video, Barr, who is launching her own YouTube show, looks disordered and distressed as she smokes a cigarette while arguing with a male producer about the editing of a previous video — one that was apparently cut together from multiple shoots and showed Barr wearing different outfits.
Soon, the agitated star brings up the since-deleted tweet.
“I’m trying to talk about Iran! I’m trying to talk about Valerie Jarrett about the Iran deal. That’s what my tweet was about,” Barr screamed.
“I thought the bitch was white!” she said, getting even louder. “Goddamnit, I thought the bitch was white. F—!”
ABC canceled the Roseanne reboot in May following series creator Barr‘s controversial tweet about Valerie Jarret. In the since-deleted tweet, Barr likened Jarrett, a black former advisor to Barack Obama, to an “ape.”
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” president of ABC Entertainment Channing Dungey announced in a statement.
Following backlash from the tweet, Barr first appeared repentant, claiming that she didn’t know Jarrett is black and that she was on Ambien while tweeting.
The star also defended herself from accusations of racism. “I’m not a racist, I never was & I never will be,” she tweeted in May. “One stupid joke in a lifetime of fighting 4 civil rights 4 all minorities, against networks, studios, at the expense of my nervous system/family/wealth will NEVER b taken from me.”
She later explained that her tweet — which described Jarrett as a cross between the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes — was actually commentary on anti-Semitism.
“Rod Serling wrote Planet of The Apes. It was about anti-semitism,” Barr tweeted. “That is what my tweet referred to – the anti semitism of the Iran deal. Low IQ ppl can think whatever they want.”
Since her firing two months ago, Barr said that she will not be participating in any TV interviews.
“After a lot of thought, I decided that I won’t be doing any TV interviews, too stressful & untrustworthy 4 me & my fans,” she tweeted July 9. “I’m going to film it myself & post it on my youtube channel in the next week-the entire explanation of what happened & why! I love you all-sign up & get ready.”